Shoe-heel section or lift.



G. H. LEWIS.

SHOE HEEL SECTION 0R LIFT.

APPLICATJON mzu FEB. I0. 1917.

1,242,213. Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

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GEORGE H. LEWIS, OF EL'YRIA, OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

Original application filed May 15, 1916, Serial No. 97,575. Divided and this application filed February 10, 1917. Serial 1Tb. 147,901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States, residin at Elyria, in the county of Lorain and tate of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Heel Sections or Lifts; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This application is a division of my application #97,575, filed May 15, 1916.

The invention of this application relates to sections, or what are more commonly known as lifts, for shoe heels. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a resilient lift for shoe heels which will adhere throughout its use closely to the shoe heel itself with the use of little or no cement or other adhesive material.

Other shoe heel lifts which have hitherto been in use, so far as I am aware, have been made fiat or concavo-convex in one form or another. The fiat heels are open to the objection that in use a seam soon opens up between the resilient lift and the portion of the shoe to whichit is attached, which, in addition to forming an ugly opening, admits dirt and water between the resilient lift and the other'portion of the shoe, which, as can be readily understood, will be objectionable for agood many reasons.

I am aware that efforts have been made to overcome this objection by fastening the flat lift to the leather or wooden'section of the heel by the use of cement. This, however, causes eonsiderable delay in applying the rubber heel to the shoe, in addition to increasing the work of the shoe maker, and in fact, makes it impractical for people to apply the lifts to their own shoes. Moreover, in many cases the cement in time is dissolved or worn away and the seam opens up.

I aim to produce a lift which can be applied very quickly ,to the shoe by the shoemaker, or which can be conveniently applied by any one to shoes, and which will always adhere or be caused to cling closely throughout its whole surface to the heel of the shoe, and especially to the edges. I

Another object of my invention is the provision of a heel lift which can be more conveniently and cheaply made than the concavo-convex' heel lifts now in use and which will, as nearly as practical, perform the same functions as said concave-convex heel lifts. By tightly fastening, through the use of screws or nails, those portions of the edges of the lift not automatically maintained in close con-tact with the surface to which the lift is attached, I overcomecertain objections to those types of rubber heel lifts not so curved as to close all parts of the margins of the inter-engaging surface of the lifts and heels, at the same time producing a lift which can be conveniently and cheaply made.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will be probably better understood from a description of an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a second embodiment of my invention, of greater curvature than the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of either embodiment shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. '2.

Fig. 5 illustrates an embodiment attached to a shoe heel.

Fig. 6 is a section taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Referring now to the drawings and to the embodiments of my invention illustrated thereinat 1 is shown a resilient heel lift made of rubber or some other suitable material possessing the necessary resiliency for the purposes to, be described. The upper surface of the lift is curved from one edge to another, in the embodiments illustrated, from the rear edge or corner 7 to the front end edge 8 or breast corners 9 and 10. This upper surface 11 is preferably flat or substantially flat throughout, in order to make a close fit with the bottom of the shoe heel.

The transverse elements of the upper surface, as will be shown, are straight, the lift being curved in one direction only. The

lower or bottom surface 12 of the lift is face of the shoe heel to which it is attached lation of moisture and dirt, so that did any leak in, it would be quickly expelled when pressure was applied to the lift below and the heel above. For practically all purposes, however, the lift may be quickly attached to the shoe without the use of other attaching or sealing means than the nails, if the nails are properly placed to close the portions of the seam not automatically closed. Nails are driveninto the shoe through the openings 20 and 21,- at or closely adjacent the-center of curvature of the heel, to effectively close the seam thereat and thus seal that portion not sealed by the resiliency of the heel lift.

I have illustrated these embodiments of my invention for the purpose of explaining the invention, and not that I wish to be limited to these embodiments or the details, as departures may be made therefrom without departing from the scope of the invention, such as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a resilient shoe heel lift portion having the general outline of a shoe-heel and an upper surface normally curved in one direction only, the elements perpendicular to the direction in which the lift is curved being straight, said lift adapted to be flattened against the under surface of the shoe heel when in use.

2. As an article of manufacture, a resilient shoe heel lift having the general outline of a shoe heel and a substantially smooth upper surface normally curved from edge to edge in one direction only, the elements perpendicular to the direction in which the lift is curved being straight, said lift adapted to be flattened against the under surface of the shoe heel when in use.

3.- As an article of manufacture, a resilient shoe heel lift having the general outline of a shoe heel and upper and lower substantially smooth parallel surfaces normally curved from edge to edge in one direction only, the elements perpendicular to the direction in which the lift is curved being straight, said lift adapted to be flattened against a heel surface when in use.

4. As an article of manufacture, a resilient shoe heel lift having the general outline of a shoe heel, with breast and end corners and upper and lower substan tially smooth surfaces normally curved from end to breast corners only, the transverse elements of the lift being straight, said lift being flattened out against a shoe heel when 1n use.

5. In combination, a shoe heel, a resilient heel lift having the general outline of said shoe heel and having upper and lower substantially smooth parallel surfaces normally curved from edge to edge in one direction only, the elements perpendicular to the direction in which the lift is curved being straight, and means to hold said lift flattened against and with its upper surface engagingv said shoe heel throughout.

6. In combination, a shoe heel provided with a substantially flat lower surface, a shoe heel lift of resilient material having the general outline of a shoe heel and provided with an upper surface normally curved from end to end in one direction only, the elements perpendicular to the direction in which the lift is curved bein substantially straight, and means applie at or about the center of such normal curvature to attach said lift flat against the bottom of the shoe heel.

7. In combination, a shoe heel provided with a substantially flat lower surface, a shoe heel lift of resilient-material having the general outline of a shoe heel and with a smooth upper surface normally curved in one direction only, the elements perpendicular to the direction in which the lift is curved being substantially straight, and a lower surface substantially parallel to the upper surface, said lift being, when in use, flattened against the under surface of the shoe heel and having its upper surface engaging the lower surface of the shoe heel throughout and means applied to the lift adjacent the center of such curvature to' close the seam thereat.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name this 7th day of February, 1917. GEORGE H. LEWIS. 

